Pharrell has in the past few years endeavored to pitch himself as an average schmoe, a N*E*R*D, a guy just like you n' golly gosh me -- he goes far enough to include in the tray art a pint-size pixilated version of himself reporting: "Wealth is of the heart and mind, not of the pocket."

PopTalk is a new podcast on PopMatters that casts its gaze on exciting developments in culture and the arts. In this first installment, we examine the 2015 Oscar nominees, and the broken rules of the institution that is the Academy.